


Without a Choice (A Tony Stark/Bruce Banner One-Shot)

by silverhairedhotrod (chaostheoryy)



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Spoilers, Gen, Hints at Tony/Bruce romance, M/M, Non-established Tony/Bruce
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-05-25
Packaged: 2018-04-01 02:43:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4002835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaostheoryy/pseuds/silverhairedhotrod
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After using the power within Loki's scepter to bring his peace-keeping program to life and inadvertantly unleashing the wrath of Ultron upon the world, Tony Stark realizes his failure and finds himself in the dire position of having to fight his closest ally: Bruce Banner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Without a Choice (A Tony Stark/Bruce Banner One-Shot)

**Author's Note:**

> This one-shot was written in response to a request by one of my Tumblr followers. Prompt: "Science Bros!"

This was all his fault. Every single thing that had gone wrong was a result of his stupid mistake. He was a fucking fool for thinking he could bring peace to the world by using the one thing that had damn near destroyed it. The Avengers were being torn apart from within and innocent people were suffering. Why? Because Tony Stark had awoken a sentient machine capable of mass destruction.

Confronting Ultron on the African coast seemed like a brilliant opportunity to eliminate the threat he had created but, thanks to the Maximoff twins, it turned out to be yet another chaotic failure. Hell “failure” wasn’t even an accurate descriptive word to illustrate just how badly he and his comrades had screwed up. The Hulk had been awoken and was terrorizing an entire city, destroying buildings and harming citizens who were too unprepared to avoid his rampage.

When Tony finally managed to make his way to the city, it became clear that he was the only hope the city had of stopping the ferocious green being. Natasha, Thor, and Cap were all consumed by the harrowing thoughts that the Maximoff girl had forced into their minds. Without any of his teammates to help, he had no choice but to make the desperate call for Veronica.

Once Veronica had arrived and equipped him with the bulky armor that had been designed specifically for moments such as this, Tony approached the Hulk. Unlike the terrified citizens bolting away from the scene, he couldn’t see the creature standing before him as a monster. Beneath the vicious exterior there was a man. A man who had a heart bigger than anyone else’s, a man who would rather put a bullet in his own head than hurt another human being: Bruce. And Bruce wasn’t just his comrade. Bruce was his partner. His friend. The one man Tony could trust wholeheartedly. For years he had surrounded himself with people, embracing his wealth and fame by socializing with the filthy rich and overwhelmingly attractive. He could have had any one he wanted. He could have found some young woman to marry and confide his every secret in. But if he had, he would have missed out on the one person he admired and cared for most. And for that he was glad.

But now he was about to battle that very same person. As much as he didn’t want to, Tony had to fight his friend. Bruce’s alternate self, the one they called the Hulk, wasn’t the kind to you save. He was the kind you stop.

“Hey big guy,” Tony said as he stared Bruce down from beneath the protective layers of iron and aluminum, “Sun’s gettin’ real low.”

For a brief moment it seemed like a wave of calm had washed over Bruce’s tense form. His muscles had relaxed and his pupils had contracted, giving Tony a sense of hope. But that optimism was short-lived. It was only a matter of seconds before Bruce’s scowl returned and every muscle in his gigantic body flexed in preparation for an attack.

“Please don’t make me do this,” Tony begged the growling creature.

But pleading with a man who was under the influence of darkness was a pointless effort. As much as he wanted to believe in Bruce’s ability to control the other being within him, this was beyond the scientist’s power. There was only one way to stop him from destroying the city and everyone within it: fighting him.

Bruce roared with rage and charged toward him. Even as he readjusted his footing and thrust his arm forward at the creature that had every intention to kill him, Tony couldn’t help but pray that somehow Bruce would remember who he was and that Tony Stark would give everything he could to save him.


End file.
